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Email: "Fallout from Gay ‘Marriage’ Demands Marriage Amendment: Minnesota Archbishop"

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BY LifeSiteNews.com By Peter J. SmithST. PAUL, Minnesota, May 3, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The leader of Minnesota’s Catholics, Rev. John Nienstedt, has called for an amendment to the Minnesota constitution defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The archbishop of Minneapolis and St. Paul recently penned a column in the Star Tribune saying that the legalization of same-sex “marriage” will have even more unintended consequences on marriage and society than the legalization of no-fault divorce, and will mean that the government no longer recognizes that the ideal situation is for a child to have a mother and a father."Why should Minnesotans care about passing a marriage amendment?” wrote Nienstedt. “Marriage matters to every Minnesotan, whether or not we choose to marry personally, because it is the natural way we bring together men and women to conceive and raise the next generation.”Nienstedt said that although the idea of marriage as a “a lifelong, committed, life-giving union between one man and one woman” has been long-established, it has been severely challenged – and not solely through same-sex “marriage.”The legalization of no-fault divorce ushered in enormous unintended consequences in society, with women unfairly forced to do solo-parenting, and fatherless children bearing the brunt of the burden, he said. “Children suffer, but so does the whole society, when marriage fails in its irreplaceable task of bringing together mothers and fathers with their children,” he continued.“We might learn caution from experience. Back in the early 1970s, the experts told us that no-fault divorce would liberate women from bad marriages without affecting anyone else. We now know that as many as one-third of women fall into poverty with their children as a result of divorce. Social science caught up late with the common-sense wisdom that children need a mom and a dad working together to protect them.”Nienstedt said that same-sex “marriage” would bring “a whole new level of challenge and uncertainty” to the institution of marriage. It would transform the “core meaning of marriage” by reducing it to “simply a union of consenting parties.”However, the happiness of adults is not why the state has an interest in promoting marriage, because the state is looking to provide for the common or public good, explained Nienstedt. “Marriage exists in civil law primarily in order to provide communal support for bringing mothers and fathers together to care for their children. Same-sex unions cannot serve this public purpose.”“We all know that not all children live in the ideal situation. Many parents are doing a magnificent job working hard to raise children in less than ideal circumstances,” said Nienstedt. “Every son or daughter is a child of God who deserves our concern. But gay marriage would certainly be a declaration by the government that we have officially abandoned the ideal that children need both a mom and dad.”He explained that the law would also teach children that “moms and dads are interchangeable and therefore unnecessary,” that marriage has nothing to do with bringing children into the world and raising them, and that the complementary influences of a mother and a father also do not matter. Nienstedt argued that the decision of activist courts like that in Iowa that overturned state law protecting natural marriage, “clearly demonstrates that an amendment is needed,” in spite of Minnesota leaders saying there is no danger of same-sex “marriage” being introduced.“The only way to secure the definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman is to follow the lead of other states and put a simple definition of marriage in our state Constitution, beyond the reach of activist courts,” he said.“A question as important as the future of this great, social institution called marriage should not be decided by a few, narrow elites, but by the people of Minnesota themselves. A marriage amendment is the only just and respectful resolution.” http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/fallout-from-gay-marriage-demands-marriage-amendment-minnesota-archbishop/

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